One thing that a lot of parents absolutely dread is traveling with their kids. No matter how angelic your offspring usually are, there’s something about traveling that usually brings out the feral qualities in the vast majority of children, whether it’s attempting to inflict as many injuries as possible on their siblings or simply spending a four-hour car journey emitting a low, irritable whine. If you’re dreading your next journey, here are a few things that could help…

Be Prepared

The number one way to deal with traveling with kids is to make sure that you’re as prepared as possible. It’s important to know how long your journey will last and to figure out where En route you can stop if you need to, whether it’s for a quick picnic, a bathroom break, or a walk to stretch your legs. Of course, traffic is never predictable, and a car journey with toddlers can feel endless, but having as much information as possible beforehand will make you feel a lot more prepared!

Think Of Different Ways To Travel

If you’re sick of strapping your kid into the car every time you go absolutely anywhere, it could be time to think of different solutions. Getting your kids biking at a young age is a great idea – not only is it a healthy way to live your life, but it’s also a lot of fun both when they’re learning and when you can go on family day trips biking together. If your kids aren’t quite old enough for that yet, check out this bike trailers 101 so that you can invest in a carrier that attaches to the back of your bike so that your kid can get used to the biking life before they have the coordination required to fully join in!

Provide Snacks

The number one thing to remember about car snacks is that they should not under any circumstances be messy – no liquid, nothing too small, nothing that might end up seeping into your car seats, and nothing that smells too strongly. Crackers are a great idea, dried fruit, nuts if your kids are old enough, grapes, tangerine segments, and berries – so long as your kids are old enough not to squish them and turn your entire back seat into a bath of raspberry juice. Put them in Tupperware containers that can be easily closed, and make sure that you take plenty of wet wipes to clean sticky hands.

Invest In Entertainment

If you have a tablet, it’s absolutely okay to let your kids spend hours staring at it in the back of the car, whether they’re playing games or watching cartoons. The priority is to keep them happy and occupied, after all. It’s also a good idea to provide activities like Etch-A-Sketches, along with toys that they haven’t played with for a while so they’ll have a lot of novelty value. Anything that might be dropped is a bad idea, along with anything that might get too competitive – you don’t want any sibling wars!